Portage kicks recycling program to the curb over expense, with hope of a new program by Earth Day

Curbside recycling collection in Portage is ending soon, a victim of the new economics of the trash business.

Already, the city is using the same truck to pick up both recyclables and garbage.

Randy Reeder, superintendent of streets and sanitation, told the City Council — the majority of whom are new members — Tuesday night that contamination in the recycling stream has plagued the city for years despite aggressive efforts to address it.

“We’ve confiscated over 1,000 toters. There’s no other city in Northwest Indiana that’s doing what we’re doing,” he said.

For about 2.5 years, the city has been on suspension because residents haven’t recycled properly, Reeder said. Some residents complain they haven’t seen instructions on what can and cannot be recycled, although the city has spent thousands each year sending large postcards that explain it.

“This is not something that the city has ever officially covered up,” Mayor Austin Bonta said. It has been discussed at numerous council meetings in the past. Unlike Tuesday’s meeting, with standing room only in the council chambers, the room was virtually empty then, he noted.

Reeder pointed out the cost of the recycling program, starting with $180,000 per year for the two trucks used to collect recyclables.

In 2020, the city collected 3,394 tons of recyclables, Reeder said, and didn’t get charged for dropping off that waste at the transfer station. At the same time, putting trash in the landfill cost $56 per ton.

Times have changed, and so have prices.

Now it would cost the city $105 per ton to drop off recyclables versus $63.64 per ton to landfill everything.

“We’re open to ideas,” Reeder said. “Suggest something.”

Bonta said residents might be able to drop off recyclables at various sites in the city, but that’s an idea that hasn’t been fleshed out. By Earth Day, in April, the city hopes to have a plan to announce, he said.

During the campaign, the issue of how to address recyclables arose. “I know a number of residents appreciated the amount of information that came out and the way we did it,” Bonta said.

He’s looking forward to doing real recycling again.

Portage isn’t the only city struggling with how to make recycling work, Reeder said. “I imagine if you reach across the country, it’s a huge issue,” he said.

Bonta, who took office Jan. 1, said he’s been busy. “The first two days has been like drinking out of a fire hose, but I absolutely love it,” he said.

In other business, the council named two new council members, both Republicans, to leadership positions. Victoria Gresham will serve as president this year while Melissa Weidenbach was named vice president.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.